"we don't have to go crazy tonight..."

taiwan skiing tour groups to japan are cheap.  but if u have a lop to visit and end up flying into tokyo on your own....the economics of the trip just went out the window.  that was the least of my worries.  because as soon as victor and i are in a room, just about everything goes out the window.  my flight was delayed, the ride in from narita took forever,  but everything seemed to recalibrate as we sat down for our first meal.  i woke up with feria drink tickets in my pocket and zero recollection of going to feria.  i remember shots at geronimo.  and i remember irish carbombs.   and i vaguely remember eating when we got home.   and with that hangover...i lugged my dignity and two pieces of luggage from hiroo station to ueno to the shinkansen to sendai station to the local train to the sendai airport...only to then take another hour and a half bus ride to mt zao in yamagata prefecture.

the 5 days i was up there....i i destroyed myself daily. physically on the slopes...gastronomically with sodium, and mentally with alcohol.  it was an amazing time.  food fun friends and incomparable powder.   so by the time i made it back to tokyo on thursday night,  i was exhausted.

"hey buddy...im a little tired.  lets just sit here for a bit."
"ok.  hurry up...i'm hungry"

and before i knew it. it was 8am. we had aggressive plans to go biking, swimming, running, shopping on friday.  all plans were cancelled as we laid on the couch, watched an iq reducing movie about spring breakers and piranhas while ordering burgers and chowder.  we just laid around until josh got in, until we would have to do it again.  until we would have to re-do the epic-ness that ensued the previous night.  re-do all the high fives.  re-do all the "omg i can't believe this is happening".  re-do all the "i need this...lets make it epic"....and basically, we did it again (sans powerhouse).  till 8am.

burnt ramen kind of made me feel better.  the novelty was much cooler for my instagram than the taste.  walking around shopping got the adrenaline flowing, just enough to make it home in time to put together a shirt tie and jacket combo for johns japanese wedding after party at the new andaz hotel in toranomon hills.   i was still sweating and fatigued from 2 consecutive 8am nights, but only found solace in the free flow yamazaki at the civil get together.   they served western food with a kara-age plate.  we drank beers afterwards upstairs.   and the night ended expectedly early, only to have my body in odd shock.  as midnight would be the typical trigger point the past two nights.  so we went to eat.  and we had sake.  and again...i was a couples therapist.

i have zero credibility when it comes to anything really.   but when it comes to a social setting, when it comes to conversation...maybe what im able to bring to the table is the ability to push the conversation.  to assess the perspectives,  run through each choose your adventure option logically....fundamentally....theoretically...and that friendly sounding board is invaluable.  i dont preach.  i can't, im not sure of myself enough to do that...(as evident when i tried coaching high school football).   i dont like being told what to do, so i dont tell people what to do.  i believe in the basic iq of my peers to find their own path....and usually they do...tho...some conversations are more frustrating than others...and that's just cause for more drink.  so my friendship is two fold.  an outlet.  and a bad influence.  take your pick.  GODSPEED.

i almost felt lucky to have to rush back sunday...as i knew my body needed a break.  and snow monkeys and onsen would've just been a complete wash.  so i rushed back.  rested sunday...and tore it up the rest of the week.    i'll never learn.
























when there's a snowstorm in nyc...and u can't fly till the following week...and u've finished everything u had to do in a half ass way the day you were supposed to fly...taipei is a dangerous place for an interim period...it becomes a dangerous alcoholic binge in the interim....

i dont even know what night is what night anymore....

























when people get married and have kids...hopefully they become adults...HOPEFULLY.   then some friends really become adults...and it's like whoa...i'm not sure i'll ever get adjusted to that reality...meet will...my former college roomate...now father of two kids....his fathering is fitting of his personality...esoterically quirky and specifically regimented in ways of care....however...i preferred to just drink with him and throw all those rules (and empty 40 bottles) out the window.  those times are behind us...congrats 李偉寧。。。


hahaha...not the southern mountain...but the MAN MOUNTAIN SAKE FOR MEN!




this burberry whiskey is GROSS!!!






if i had known Mt Zao was so close to FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI...i probably would have voted to go back to niseko.  but what i do to my own body...is probably worse than nuclear exposure.  plus...have you read that new study where 66% of cancer is pure luck...

japan was awesome.  absolutely awesome.  AGAIN.  this year, we avoided the australian tourist trap of niseko, opting for the small, quaint, sparsely populated domestic vacation town of Mt Zao in the Yamagata prefecture.  if boarding and onsen weren't enough awesomeness, ramen and sukiyaki and katsudons was only just the start of the edible euphoria that fueled our day.  due to the salinity and humidity in the air from ocean proximity, japanese powder is soft and japan mountains are continually snowing.  the snowballs crumble when u throw them and the snow cushions the aggressive boarding style that im way to old to be doing.  aches pains and bruises are forgotten while sipping amazing freshly distilled sake and eating hearty local cured meats and warming sukiyaki pots of salted goodness.  and when things got hazy after a night of stupid shenanigans...we washed away the hangovers in hot sulphur stenched mountain springs.  its awesome.

what i discovered this trip was that i FELT SO FAT.  it really needs to be said.  i wore an extra buttpad that added a solid 2-3 inches to my waist that made me had to suck in my gut everytime i buttoned my snow pants.  depressing to feel uncomfortable standing.  even more depressing to feel the gut hangover everytime i sat down on the lift.  what was even worse, was that i had to suck in and hold my breath when strapping into my bindings....EVERY SINGLE TIME.  all this was reaffirmed when i looked at myself in the mirror at onsen...hahaha...what the heck have i been doing to myself.   this athletic ironman physique of a fatty.    oh well.  lets just start the diet when i get back.  CHEERS!

”被騙“ - yamagata is famous for its ice trees.  藏王樹冰。  we were told from others in the tour group...we should pay 25000Yen to take the gondola up to the peak to check out the view at night.   regardless of the fact that our lift tickets would take us up there the next day and the rest of the week.  the "night view" was only able to be seen on the weekend, so we should go...said the taiwanese hotel front desk later...with an undertone of sarcasm.  i dont know why my peers were so eager to go, while i double checked and tripled questioned the lady as to heading up to see these ice trees in negative 15 degree weather at night with an extra premium.  but i went with the group...and being the first night...we were overly excited to freeze, have zero visibility at the peak...experience a ridiculous wind chill....and yet...u can't out taiwanese the taiwanese..."lets stay up here a little longer just to 賺回來“  haha.

next years trip is going to be quite different.  kevin and rosa are married.  and we're expecting them to have a child in 9 months from of the time of this trip.  steve will probably bring erica next year.  and if all goes well...i'll have a 4 year old child...hahaha.